The African, Caribbean and
Pacific (ACP) Observatory on Migration, a joint initiative of the
European Commission and the ACP countries, was launched officially at a
special ceremony in Brussels, Belgium, held on 25 October 2010. The
Observatory is intended to provide reliable data on migration flows in
ACP countries, with climate change as one of its key research
topics. The Observatory will be run by the International Migration
Organization (IOM) and and a consortium of 15 partners and four
associates, with nearly 8 million Euros funding from the EU and
additional financial support from Switzerland and IOM. It will cover all
six ACP regions and start with pilot programmes in 12 countries. The
Observatory is expected to introduce an innovative approach to enhance
research capacities in ACP countries and assist in designing better
policies to enhance the contribution of migration to development. [EU
press release] [IOM
press release]

UN Global Forum on Local Development Discusses MDGs

October
2010: The UN Global Forum on Local Development, which convened from 4-6
October 2010, in Kampala, Uganda, focused on a local development
approach to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which
requires multi-stakeholder engagement in order to succeed. The forum,
organized by the UN Capital Development Fund (UNCDF),
the UN Development Programme (UNDP)
and the Ugandan Government, and supported by a wide range of partners,
was attended by 600 participants from 81 countries. In the opening
statement, UNCDF Executive Secretary David Morrison stressed the
influence that local circumstances can have on the progress of achieving
MDGs, which aim to reduce poverty, hunger, maternal and child deaths,
disease, inadequate shelter, gender inequality and environmental
degradation. He noted that a strong consensus is emerging that a new
policy approach based on local knowledge to tailor public policy to
specific circumstances is needed, and that it will allow for more
effective provision of public goods that respond to the needs of local
communities. [UN
News Centre] [UNCDF
GFLD 2010]

SEPTEMBER 2010

UNEP Provides
Adaptation Assistance to Rwanda

The UN Environment Programme
(UNEP) and the UN Development Programme (UNDP) have announced the
implementation of the Rwandan Climate Change and Development Project -
Adapting by Reducing Vulnerability (CC DARE). The project involves
relocating human settlements from Rwanda's sloping Gishwati Forest, an
area that has suffered severe environmental degradation, exacerbated by
extreme weather events. The joint UNEP/UNDP CC DARE programme aims to
complement and strengthen ongoing and planned adaptation and risk
management activities, based on national priorities. [UNEP
press release]

16 September 2010: As world
leaders prepare for the MDG Summit, which will be held from 20-22
September, at UN Headquarters in New York, to boost progress on the
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
held a press conference to discuss the findings of the report on “The
Global Partnership for Development at a Critical Juncture.” The report
finds serious gaps in the realization of commitments only five years
away from the deadline for achieving the Goals, and stresses that
improved access to new technologies has become increasingly
pressing, especially those technologies
necessary for climate change mitigation and adaptation and for reducing
greenhouse gas emissions.

The report
emphasizes the impact of the global economic crisis, leading to further
shortfalls on aid, trade and debt, and on affordable access to medicines
and technology. It notes that official development assistance (ODA) will
fall short by US$20 billion on commitments made for this year, with
Africa accounting for 80% of that gap. The report highlights trade
recovery, but notes that it is still unclear if it will generate the
jobs and income opportunities required to lift many out of poverty.

With an
increased focus on access to new technologies, the role of the private
sector is also critical. The report notes the need for large public and
private investments and incentives for technologies for renewable energy
production, energy efficiency and environmental protection, with
emphasis on climate change. It argues that economic and market barriers,
particularly lack of finance, are the main obstacles for developing
countries in accessing technology transfer. It calls for enhancing
internationally concerted efforts to promote the development and
transfer of technologies for the mitigation of, and adaptation to,
climate change in developing countries, and provide the necessary
financial resources and technical assistance in order to address
urgently the needs of developing countries in dealing with its adverse
effects. [UN
News]
[UN
News Centre, 16 September]
[MDG
Gap Task Force report]

JULY 2010

UNGA Adopts Consensus Resolution on the UN Women Agency

2 July
2010: The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) has voted unanimously
on a
resolution
(A/64/L.56), paragraphs 49 and 50, to create the UN Entity for Gender
Equality and the Empowerment of Women or
UN Women.
The resolution focuses on strengthening the institutional arrangements
for support of gender equality and the empowerment of women and the
establishment of the new entity.

The new
entity will merge the existing mandates and functions of four UN
agencies and offices including the UN Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM),
the Division for the Advancement of Women (DAW), the Office of the
Special Adviser on Gender Issues, and the UN International Research and
Training Institute for the Advancement of Women (UN-INSTRAW). The new
entity will function both as a secretariat and implementing agency to
carry out operational activities at the country level. The new agency is
expected to be operational by 1 January 2011. The resolution also
establishes an Executive Board, comprised of member States, as the
governing body of the entity to provide intergovernmental support to and
supervision of its operational activities. [UNGA
Resolution]
[UNGA
Press Release summarizing the General Assembly meeting, 2 July 2010]
[Press
conference]
[UN
and Women]

UNDP Supports Strategic Investment to Address
Climate Change in LDCs

July 2010: In order
to strengthen support to Least Developed Countries (LDCs) in their work
on climate change in the lead up to the negotiations in Cancun and
beyond, the UN Development Programme (UNDP) has committed US$5.6 million
toward a programme on "Strategic Investment in Addressing Climate Change
in LDCs." The purpose of the programme is to strengthen the programmatic
capacity in the area of climate change of select LDCs through the
provision of focused expertise at the regional and national levels
during 2010-2011. This initiative will provide focused climate change
expertise, including senior-level national climate change specialists in
24 LDCs. These National Officers, currently under recruitment, will be
the focal point for in-country climate change work.

UNDP currently works
in 49 LDCs that will face various climate change challenges from risk of
inundation as sea levels rise, increased flooding of low-lying coastal
areas, increased variability in rainfall, and hotter and drier climates.
Tropical diseases such as malaria could increase and fragile genetic
species could face the risk of extinction as a result of climate change.
[UNDP
Climate Change]
[IISDRS]

UNDP and
Oxford Launch New Poverty Measure

14 July 2010:
The Human Development Report Office of the United Nations Development
Programme (UNDP) and the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative
(OPHI) of Oxford University have launched a new poverty measure – the
Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) – to address the multidimensional
facets of people living in poverty. The new measure is expected to
support the targeting of development resources more effectively within
specific communities. The MPI will be featured in the forthcoming 20th
anniversary edition of the UNDP Human Development Report, to be released
in October 2010, and it is expected to supplant the Human Poverty Index
(HPI), adding to the other existing indexes such as the UNDP’s Human
Development Index and measures of inequality across the population and
between genders. The new measure focuses on the most vulnerable
households and groups and enables an understanding of exactly which
deprivations afflict their lives, from education to health outcomes to
assets and services, capturing distinct and broader aspects of poverty.
It provides a comprehensive measure of poverty compared to the
traditional dollar-a-day formulas. This new multidimensional measure to
poverty has been already piloted in Mexico, and is currently being
considered by Chile and Colombia. [UNDP
Human Development Report Office]
[OPHI]

JUNE 2010

UNDP REPORTS PROGRESS ON GREENING BUSINESS IN
VIETNAM

The UN Development Programme (UNDP) and the Government of Viet Nam,
through the Global Environment Facility (GEF), are helping to green
small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the brick, ceramics, textiles,
paper production and food processing sectors. UNDP reports that the
project raises awareness among managers, and has been providing
technical and financial support to install energy efficient technologies
for the past four years. It is estimated that, so far, the initiative
has benefited over 400 businesses, which has resulted in significant
energy savings, by replacing outdated equipment and providing financing
options for investment in efficient production processes. SMEs have
become the key generator of jobs in Viet Nam and the use of
energy-efficient technologies has the potential to increase the profits
of businesses while significantly reducing carbon emissions. The
project's success is due to the partnership between the Government and
financial institutions that aim to set up financial and tax schemes for
SMEs to motivate the adoption of energy-efficient measures. A Loan
Guarantee Fund has also been set up to reduce the risks of financial
institutions providing loans to SMEs for energy-efficiency investments.

21 June 2010: The UN
Development Programme (UNDP) and the Government of Bangladesh are
supporting the island of St. Martin’s to develop strategies that offset
or avoid biodiversity loss while promoting poverty reduction. Land
pressures caused by a growing population and natural disasters, along
with the threats posed by climate change, have amplified the risks of
biodiversity reduction and ecosystem changes on the island, a
biodiversity hotspot located in the southern part of Bangladesh. By
promoting strategies such as livelihood diversification, the Government
of Bangladesh and UNDP are supporting communities' efforts to opt
for farming and agricultural practices that better utilize natural
resources for long-term preservation and environmentally-sustainable
strategies. The next step of the initiative is to identify interventions
and programmes that have been successful in St. Martin and that can be
scaled up on a national level. UNDP is expected to support the
Government in creating a long-term plan for national implementation. [UNDP
press release]

UN/ISDR
LAUNCHES MAKING CITIES RESILIENT CAMPAIGN

On 30 May 2010,
the UN International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UN/ISDR) launched
a world disaster reduction campaign, titled ‘Making cities resilient: my
city is getting ready.’ The campaign, a two-year scheme, seeks to bring more than 1000
local government leaders around the world to sign up for
and to commit to a checklist of ‘Ten
Essentials’ that will make their cities more resilient, with a specific
goal to enhance awareness about the benefits of focusing on sustainable
urbanization to reduce disaster risks. The ten essentials build on the
priorities identified under the Hyogo Framework for Action 2005-2015 to
build the resilience of nations and communities to disasters, and
emphasize actions such as to: put in place organization and
coordination to understand and reduce disaster risk, based on civil
society participation; assign a budget for disaster risk reduction;
prepare risk assessments; maintain critical infrastructure that reduces
risks; assess the safety of all schools and health facilities; apply and
enforce realistic, risk-compliant building regulations and land use
planning principles; ensure education programmes and training on
disaster risk reduction; protect ecosystems and natural buffers to
mitigate floods, storms and other hazards, and adapt to climate change
by building on good risk reduction practices; install early warning
systems and emergency management; and ensure the needs of survivors are
prioritized during reconstruction. The campaign emphasizes that making
cities safer to disasters means sustainable urbanization. When
successfully applied, resilient cities help reduce poverty and provide
for growth and employment, more social equity, business opportunities,
balanced ecosystems, better health and improved education. UN/ISDR
is coordinating the initiative, in collaboration with the UN Human
Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT), the UN World Health Organization
(WHO) and the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF).

The UN
Development Programme (UNDP), in partnership with Olympus Corporation
and the Agence France-Presse (AFP) Foundation, launched a photo contest
titled “Picture This: We Can End Poverty.” The competition will feature
work carried out in various countries to achieve the Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015 to demonstrate how ordinary people
around the world are addressing their most pressing development
challenges.

Last year, the
photo contest on caring for the Earth focused on climate change and
environmental degradation in Africa. An exhibit featuring the winning
photos will be held during the UN Summit on the MDGs in September in New
York. Each photo entry can focus on one of the MDGs. The deadline for
entries is 16 July 2010.

UNDP SUPPORTS INDIGENOUS COMMUNITIES IN SAMOA TO RECORD THE IMPACT OF
CLIMATE CHANGE ON THEIR LIVELIHOODS

The UN Development Programme
(UNDP) is providing support through the Global Environmental Facility (GEF)
Small Grants Programme Initiative to indigenous communities to record
the impacts of climate change on their habitat. The videos produced will
aim to support climate resilience and grassroots actions for policy
change. A video produced by eight indigenous communities from Samoa was
featured at the Copenhagen Climate Change Conference in December 2009
and will be screened at the Fourth GEF Assembly, to be held in Punta del
Este, Uruguay, from 24-28 May 2010. This participatory video brought
together indigenous women and men – from rural and fisher communities –
to capture the impact of climate change on their livelihoods. In
addition, the UNDP Community Based Adaptation Project (CBA) is providing
grants to each community to implement adaptation strategies to cope with
climate change. In the upcoming months, communities in Morocco and
Namibia are expected to initiate video productions on the effects of
climate change on their daily lives.

The United Nations World Food
Programme (WFP) Executive Director Josette Sheeran indicated that the
intense droughts in Niger are escalating the humanitarian crisis and
contributing to mass migration from rural to urban areas as well as to
neighboring countries. She has announced that WFP will step up its aid
to support 2.3 million people, particularly pregnant women and children,
in the arid eastern Sahel region.
UN Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator John Holmes is
visiting West Africa attempt to review disaster management cooperation,
risk reduction and strengthening humanitarian coordination. He will
focus on the need to address the root causes of recurring food crisis in
the region and consider some of the long-term solutions such as
investments in smallholder agriculture and rural infrastructure,
strengthening poverty alleviation interventions and disaster risk
reduction vis-à-vis the growing threats of climate change. John Holmes
is travelling to Zinder area of Southern Niger to assess the human
impact of the food crisis which is estimated to be affecting 7.8 million
people. He has made an appeal to donors for $133 million to respond to
the crisis. In addition, he is calling for help to support some two
million people in Chad, 258,000 Malians, 370,000 Mauritanians and
vulnerable communities in northern Nigeria.

The UN
Development Programme (UNDP) has announced a cooperative initiative with
the Government of Burkina Faso to promote access to energy as a key
component of poverty reduction. The initiative includes the installation
of a “multifunctional platform”–a diesel
engine and associated tools (such as grinding mills, huskers, battery
chargers, pumps, and carpentry equipment)–that assists women with
labor-intensive work and helps generate new income streams.
The platform can also be used to distribute water and electricity in
small villages. It is estimated that 431 platforms have been installed
in eight regions in Burkina Faso, benefiting more than 600,000 people.

Evidence emerging from the experiences with the multifunctional
platforms was presented during the 54th session of the Commission on the
Status of Women held in March 2010, in New York. The Aarhus United, the
Government of Luxembourg, Shell Foundation, the Bill and Melinda Gates
Foundation, and the Kuwaiti telecom company Zain, are some of the main
donors of the programme.

During the first day of the ninth session
of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII), which is
meeting from 19-30 May 2010, at the UN Headquarters in New York, US, the
representative of New Zealand announced that the country will reverse its
decision and support the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous
Peoples (UNDRIP). Indigenous leaders attending the forum described the
shift in New Zealand’s policy as a positive sign for the struggle of
indigenous peoples to protect their lands, resources, culture and
languages. The shift is also expected to impact ongoing negotiations
under the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) on access and
benefit-sharing, and deliberations on Article 8(j) (traditional
knowledge).

UN REPORT FINDS THAT MOBILE PHONES ARE MORE COMMON
THAN TOILETS IN INDIA

The United
Nations University's Institute for Water, Environment and Health (UNU-IWEH)
has released a report containing recommendations to accelerate the pace
towards reaching the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) on halving the
proportion of people without access to safe water and basic sanitation.
The report notes that access to adequate sanitation reduces local
environmental degradation, and improves ecosystem services as well as
human health and well-being. The recommendations emphasize the synergies
between water, sanitation and hygiene.

UNU-IWEH Director Zafar Adeel, Chair of
UN-Water, a coordinating body for water-related work at 27 UN agencies
and their partners, indicated that recent UN research demonstrates that
roughly 366 million people in India, equivalent 31%of the population,
had access to improved sanitation in 2008. At the same time, about 545
million cell phones are now connected in the country, representing an
increase in the number of cell phones per 100 people from 0.35 in
2000-01 to about 45 today. Adeel stressed that, in India, more people
have access to a mobile phone than to a toilet facility.

The report concludes that if current trends
continue, as per data by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the
United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), an estimated 1 billion persons
will not have access to proper sanitation facilities by the MDG target
date of 2015.

UNICEF ISSUES WARNING ABOUT MALNUTRITION CRISIS IN
AFRICA DUE TO DESERTIFICATION

The United Nations
Children’s Fund (UNICEF) warned that severe
malnutrition is affecting an estimated 859,000 children under the age of
five living in the Sahel region of Africa due to droughts and increasing
desertification. The UN agency indicated that Burkina Faso, Mauritania,
Mali, Niger, northern Nigeria and Chad are suffering from severe
malnutrition and will need support from donors to provide funds for
humanitarian programmes. UNICEF indicated that only half of the funds
sought to address the crisis have been raised. UNICEF spokesperson
Christiane Berthiaume stressed that the ongoing drought in the Sahel
region has created a food crisis that is already putting at risk the
health of the region’s most vulnerable children.

UN WARNS OF HARMFUL
IMPACT ON POOR FARMERS FROM NARROW USE OF BIOTECHNOLOGY

A conference on agricultural
biotechnologies in developing countries held in Guadalajara,
Mexico, from 1-4 March 2010, considered the
growing challenges of food security faced by developing countries. The
meeting also explored opportunities and partnerships to strengthen the
capacity of developing countries to choose and use appropriate
biotechnologies. UN Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) Assistant
Director-General Modibo Traore noted that biotechnologies are not
yet making a significant impact in the lives of people in most
developing countries, as most countries still lack the appropriate
technologies, policies and technical capacities, and necessary
infrastructure and evaluation capacities.

According to FAO, biotechnological
innovations can effectively mitigate the impact of climate change, with
examples being the experience of rice hybrids in Africa, which have
doubled agricultural production, and artificial insemination techniques
to raise dairy cattle milk production in Bangladesh. FAO also stresses
the need for greater involvement of farmers, particularly small-holders,
institutions and communities to make the adequate decisions to choose
the appropriate technologies.

UN MARKS
INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY WITH CALLS TO MEET THE CHALLENGES OF
DEVELOPMENT

This year marks
the 15th anniversary of the adoption of the Beijing Declaration and
Platform for Action, the outcome of the Fourth World Conference on Women
in Beijing in 1995. To mark International Women’s Day, UN
officials stressed the need for greater empowerment of women in order to
achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015 and to
face development challenges, including climate change.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
underscored the role of women and girls in achieving peace, security
and sustainable development. UN Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO)
Director-General Kandeh K. Yumkella emphasized the need to enhance
women’s access to skills, technologies and finance to facilitate their
engagement in productive activities and to move beyond subsistence
survival, with a particular focus on agribusiness and agri-industries
opportunities in Africa. Yumkella also highlighted the role of women in
Africa, as small farmers and agricultural laborers, in crop production,
livestock care and off-farm activities, and the constraints associated
with women’s lack of rights.

The UN Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM)
and the UN Global Compact, which focuses on corporate responsibility,
launched a joint initiative called “Women’s Empowerment Principles,” to
offer guidance on how to empower women in the workplace. UNIFEM
Executive Director Inés Alberdi stressed the multiplier effect of
women’s empowerment, noting the benefits for communities and business.

The UN Economic and Social Commission for
Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) and Waste Concern, a Bangladeshi
non-governmental organization (NGO), have launched in Dhaka, Bangladesh,
an initiative to transform trash into cash to benefit cities in Asia and
the Pacific. The initiative will help solid waste development strategies
to become decentralized, pro-poor oriented, and promote self-financing
through the sale of carbon credits. UNESCAP has been working with local
partners since 2005 and have tested the approach in Sri Lanka and
Vietnam with recycling plants serving about 1,000 households.

UNESCAP estimates that local governments
spend on average up to 60 percent of their annual public budgets to
collect, transport and dispose solid wastes. Rapid urbanization is
leading to an increase in the production of solid waste. The initiative
hopes to harness the potential of solid waste to provide a living to
many families from recycling, both from inorganic recyclable waste and
organic waste collection, which can be turned into compost and can
generate seed funds costs through carbon credits.

WORLD BANK REPORTS ON PROGRESS MADE IN BUILDING
HEALTH CLINICS AND WATER PUMPS IN KOSOVO

The World Bank has reported on some 320
projects it has been involved with under the Community Development Fund
(CDF) project in Kosovo from 2001-2008. The projects aim to increase the
quantity and quality of infrastructure and services in poor and
conflict-affected communities, as well as the most vulnerable groups,
and to promote local capacity building including participation and
empowerment. The CDF financed the rehabilitation of the water system
and, according to a review carried out by the CDF in consultation with
stakeholders, a direct outcome of the CDF’s water supply projects has
been a dramatic reduction of waterborne diseases. In addition, the water
supply systems financed by the project have eliminated time and effort
in carrying water.

On
27 January 2010, International Labour Organization (ILO) Director
General Juan Somavia launched the ILO’s annual Global Employment Trends
report. This
report indicates that unemployment reached the highest level on record
in 2009, with nearly 212 million jobless worldwide, or 6.6%of the global
workforce. The report provides a regional outlook and indicates that the
Central and South-Eastern Europe (non-EU) and Commonwealth of
Independent States (CSEE & CIS) experienced the most severe shock in
terms of economic growth of all regions. The report notes that the ILO
has adopted a Global Jobs Pact, aimed at creating jobs, including green
jobs strategies, protecting workers and stimulating economic recovery.

On 5
February 2010, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization reported that
the humanitarian crisis is expected to exacerbate in Somalia, with an
estimated 3.2 million people, or 42% of the population, in need of
emergency aid. FAO indicates that one in 22 children is severely
malnourished, one of the highest rates of acute malnutrition in the
world. Most of the regions affected are located in the south and central
Somalia, which are still affected by conflict.

Drought due to below-average rainfall has been affecting pastoral and
agro-pastoral people, who are in need of livelihood support and
assistance to recover. FAO reports that if agricultural areas in the
south recover to boost productivity, food availability could reduce the
number of rural people in crisis.

The UN
Environment Programme (UNEP) has announced it will lead the
environmental recovery effort in Haiti, which was struck by an
earthquake on 12 January 2010, by ensuring that environmental issues are
integrated into the respective cluster response plans. The UN is
appealing for US$562 million, covering a period of six months, with US$1
million earmarked for environmental interventions. Major environmental
issues, including waste management, mass burials and disposal of
demolition material, are anticipated in the early recovery phase.
Together with immediate efforts, UNEP announced it will continue to
develop the Haiti Regeneration Initiative, a long-term programme aimed
at reducing poverty and vulnerability to natural hazards through the
restoration of ecosystems and sustainable natural resource management.

On 19 January 2010, UN Secretary-General
Ban Ki-moon and UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova launched the
Education for All Global Monitoring Report 2010
at UN Headquarters in New York, US.At
the reportï¿½s launch, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon stressed the
fundamental right to education, which he said should not be based on
wealth, gender, race, ethnicity or language. The report points out that
about 72 million children worldwide are
still out of school, as a result of countriesï¿½ slower economic growth
and rising poverty, which increases marginalization in education. The
report also points out that girls are often the first to feel the
effects. In Pakistan and Uganda, for example, climate-related shocks
result in far more girls being taken out of school than boys. The report
indicates that cross-country research on past economic crises and
climate events shows that the effects of shocks on schooling tend to be
more pronounced in low income countries than in middle-income countries.
Often, the children of the poorest households are most likely to suffer
adverse consequences with regard to education, health and nutrition, and
poverty tends to persist across generations.

UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova
noted that there is a financing gap of US$16 billion per year to reach
the education goal and urged donor countries and the G20 group of
developed and developing countries to scale up aid needed.

On 14 January
2010, the UN released its State of the Worldï¿½s
Indigenous Peoplesï¿½ Report with the Chair of the United Nations
Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII) Victoria Tauli-Corpuz
describing the poverty situation of indigenous peoples in both developed
and developing countries. The report provides disaggregated data that
shows that indigenous persons often suffer from inadequate nutrition,
lack of productive resources, limited access to education and health
care, and vulnerability to environmental pollution and climate change
despite their carbon neutral lifestyles ï¿½ particularly in the Arctic and
Pacific islands. The report highlights that the future of indigenous
peoples is closely linked to solutions to the biodiversity loss and
climate change crises.

The report indicates that there are about
370 million indigenous peoples worldwide, which comprises five per cent
of the worldï¿½s population and one-third of the worldï¿½s 900 million
extremely poor rural people. Data show that indigenous peoplesï¿½ life
expectancy is up to 20 years lower than non-indigenous, and that
indigenous communities have higher levels of maternal and infant
mortality, malnutrition, malaria and tuberculosis, and other diseases.

On the same day, the UN Development
Programme (UNDP) hosted a meeting with 16 indigenous representatives to
prepare for the 20th anniversary of UNDPï¿½s flagship Human Development
Report. The meeting discussed how the concept of human development could
encompass issues related to self-determination, cultural preservation,
identity and spirituality, as well as the close connection of
environmental integrity and well-being of indigenous peoples.

The UN Development
Fund for Women (UNIFEM) has launched the Fund for Gender Equality, which
will provide grants to support initiatives worldwide to empower women
and to promote their political participation and property rights. The
Fund, financially supported by the Governments of Spain and Norway, will
provide US$68 million dollars to accelerate ongoing initiatives on the
ground. Initiatives emphasized should support Government and civil
society partnerships, and focus on vulnerable women including indigenous
women, high-risk groups and those affected by HIV/AIDS, as well as women
who are small farmers facing food insecurity and exposed to the negative
effects of climate change.

The first tranche of the Fund, totaling
US$9 million, will benefit 27 initiatives across 26 countries, including
support to women in the informal sector in Cameroon, Egypt and the
Philippines and promoting political participation in Bosnia and
Herzegovina, the Dominican Republic, Uganda, Morocco and in the Pacific
Islands.